Something To Prove
by yellowstar
Summary: A disgruntled employee has something to prove. And nothing and nobody will stand in his way. Please Review! UPDATED! Three down, two to go...
1. A Disgruntled Employee

SOMETHING TO PROVE  
  
A disgruntled employee  
  
"Nobody thinks I'm good enough. I've worked here for years and I never get any respect." He fumed as he paced his office furiously. "They always compare myself to him. They should be comparing him to me." He thought arrogantly. "That's all about to change. I'll show them how wrong they are." The man promised to himself as he sat down at his desk to formulate a plan.  
  
He was not a bad employee, always diligent in his work, on time, did everything by the book. His whole life he had been second fiddle. His older brother Samuel succeeded at whatever he did. Whether it was sports, academics, or girls, he never came in second. The second son wasn't so fortunate. He had tried to follow in his brother's footsteps, trying to win his father's approval. But it didn't take long to realize he wasn't an athlete. His grades were always excellent but so was Samuel's. There was nothing about him that stood out. He was always compared to his brother.  
  
He had found his niche in high school in his science classes. His junior chemistry teacher inspired him to go to college for forensic science and criminology. He was always so driven; his intense personality usually pushed people away, making it hard for him to make friends. He thought it would be different once he got a job in his scientific world, where other people would surely understand him. But once again, he found himself being compared to others, and ultimately falling short.  
  
He had a small amount of satisfaction that his brother had blown out his knee playing football at Notre Dame and now spent his days coaching high school football. While he had a good job at the second ranked crime lab in the country. But he wasn't willing any longer to play second fiddle; he was going to take matters into his own hands.  
  
For too many years he had simply taken the rumors and the gossip of the lab and tried to ignore them. He had confidence in his abilities, that given the chance, they would see what an asset he was to the team. Now he was angry, he had never won any awards or being given any recognition. His patience had worn out and he was going to make them pay. 


	2. One Down

One Down  
  
"Who wants to go for breakfast?" Nick asked his co-workers as shift ended. Shift had been a success, with both teams solving their cases. Everyone was in a good mood so they all agreed to go to the diner, even Grissom. Catherine had told him he should get his head out of the microscope and get more involved with the team. They were becoming a family whether he liked it or not.  
  
The five walked out to the parking lot together, laughing and joking as they only did after a good shift.  
  
"Hey Cath. I think you have a flat tire." Warrick told her as they approached her vehicle. She moved ahead to investigate. "Make that four flat tires." She replied grimly. "They've been slashed." She declared as the others came to see for themselves.  
  
"Sure wasn't done by a professional." Warrick commented, as it appeared that the person had stabbed the knife in many times to get the effect they wanted.  
  
"It looks like a four inch blade." Sara announced as she studied the tires. "Looks like they punctured the back right one first." She decided as she tried to place the route of the person who had done this.  
  
"How do you figure that?" Warrick inquired of his brainy teammate, as he too studied the tires. "This cut is the cleanest, made when the blade was the sharpest. The tires dulled the blade so we can retrace the path."  
  
"Well done." Grissom admitted, impressed with her observations. "So knowing that, we can assume that the person came from behind Catherine's car." The supervisor added.  
  
"It's facing the main street." Nick said in frustration. "It could have been anyone." He said pessimistically.  
  
"Let's hope they left some evidence behind in the tires." Grissom stated, as they continued to scope out the surrounding area.  
  
"The tow truck is on its way. Frank said he'll give us the tires when he's done." Catherine said as she hung up her cell phone.  
  
Sara sat there in quiet contemplation. "What are you thinking?" Nick asked her as he noticed she hadn't said anything in a few minutes.  
  
"Well you said it wasn't done by a professional." She repeated Warrick's words as she said her thoughts out loud. "So there's a pretty good chance that our perp might have cut his hand on the knife." She suggested hopefully. "We can hope." Nick agreed.  
  
The tow truck arrived at that moment. "I'll have it back in an hour." Frank told them as he finished loading the Suv onto the back. The group decided to eat breakfast to kill time, seeing as they had some unfinished business to attend to when Catherine's truck came back.  
  
"Anything on the cameras Archie?" Sara questioned the audio/visual lab tech as she came in to view the outside security cameras from the lab. "Nothing yet. Her truck is parked pretty far away, we might not get anything." Archie warned her. "Keep working." She encouraged him, having full confidence that if there were anything on those tapes he would find it. She left him to do his work and caught up with the others in the lab with Greg.  
  
"Thanks for staying late Greggo." Catherine said gratefully as the young lab tech scanned the tire treads under the microscope. "I hope I can help." He replied, remaining focused on the task at hand.  
  
Sara, Nick, and Warrick went to the break room to do some brainstorming. "You know we're missing something here." Warrick said worried. "We're trying to figure out who, but what we don't know is why."  
  
"You're right." Nick realized suddenly. "Did they know it was Catherine's car?" he asked out loud.  
  
"If they did," Sara hypothesized, "how do we know they won't escalate it?"  
  
"But if they didn't know, was it just a random act?" Warrick added the other side to their debate. "I mean all our cars are the same."  
  
"Great." Sara sighed frustrated. "Maybe they have a vendetta against the crime lab." She commented sarcastically. "Sadly, that's not as crazy an idea as you would imagine." Nick decided gravely.  
  
"We need more evidence." Grissom announced suddenly as he entered the room, with Catherine right behind him. "Greg is working on taking apart all the tires and running the treads one by one." She informed them. "It might take awhile."  
  
"Alright then. Our hands are tied until shift tonight. So everyone go home, get some rest and come back ready to go later." Grissom instructed his team. Warrick, Sara, and Nick all gladly left the crime lab, this newest case wracking their brains.  
  
"Hey Cath." Grissom stopped the blonde CSI before she left. "How about I take you and Lindsey out to a movie." He suggested, wanting to keep an eye on her. She wasn't fooled but agreed nonetheless, touched that he was so concerned. But she shouldn't have been surprised, after all they had been friends and colleagues for fifteen years now. 'Apparently he's taking my advice to heart.' She thought as she followed him out of the lab and went to pick up Lindsey from the babysitter's.  
  
"One down." The man whispered as he crossed his first task off his list. He didn't stop to dwell on his success too long as his plan was just beginning. Soon they wouldn't know what hit them. Or who, he thought with a laugh as he chuckled to himself. 


	3. Random Theory

Random Theory

Once again, Please review! Enjoy!

"I'll take Sara and Catherine with me." Grissom decided firmly, leaving no room for arguments. "Nick and Warrick, you guys get the dead body on Freeman." He handed the assignment slips out and the two teams hurried off to their respective crime scenes.

Warrick took the perimeter at the house on Freeman. He was snapping pictures of the footprints he found when his cell phone rang. "I'll be right there." He told the caller somberly and hung up. He quickly packed up his kit and went looking for Nick.

"Hey Nick. Do you think you can handle this?" Warrick asked, referring to do the scene solo. "Sure. Why?" Nick inquired, confused.

"Someone broke into my grandma's house." Warrick explained. "Hope everything's ok." Nick wished his co-worker. "Yeah, me too." Warrick agreed. "Thanks." He muttered as he left the scene, glad that he and Nick had driven separately.

"What's going on?" Warrick demanded as he arrived upon the scene. He quickly spotted his grandmother and rushed over to see if she was okay. Two officers were interviewing her, while the others looked around the area for the suspect.

"Don't worry about me now." She admonished him. "I wasn't home when it happened. I came back from the store and my window was broken so I called the police." His grandmother explained, trying to reassure him.

Nick called Grissom to let him know about Warrick, hoping his situation wasn't related to the case that they had pending with Catherine's car. "We're all done here, so we'll meet up with you there." Grissom told the younger CSI. Nick continued to work on the body while he waited for them to arrive.

"Sara, you're going to Warrick's grandmother's house to see if there is anything that needs processing." Grissom directed the brunette. "Catherine, you and I are headed to Freeman to meet up with Nick."

"Is anything missing?" Warrick queried, knowing how hard it was to recover stolen property. "I don't know." His grandmother admitted. "They won't let me in."

"I'll take a look around." He decided as he made his way into the house. "Me too." A voice announced suddenly. Warrick turned around to find his co-worker Sara on the doorstep.

"Grissom sent me." She said by way of explanation. She followed him into the house. "He thought it would be a good idea to have an objective set of eyes." Warrick nodded as he strained to find anything out of place. The two cautiously meandered through the house; careful not to disturb anything they could tag as evidence.

"Nick?" Grissom called as he and Catherine arrived at his crime scene. They found him in the backyard with the body and the coroner.

"What needs to be done?" Catherine asked as she slipped on her gloves and opened her case. "Warrick was taking pictures of the front lawn." Nick told her and she hurried off to finish the task. It didn't take long for the three of them to process the scene and they went back to the lab to get the results.

Bobby handed Nick the photos that he developed from the crime scene. Nick eagerly opened the envelope and laid them out on the table. Catherine came in to see him staring at the pictures in suspiciously. "What is it?" She asked the abnormally quiet Texan. He didn't respond, simply stormed out of the room, passing a puzzled Grissom on the way.

"Greg, did you mix up my photos?" He demanded as he entered the room. Greg resisted the urge to make a clever remark, seeing Nick's furious demeanor. "No way man. I developed them right after each other. The only ones I did tonight, in fact. I can check the film to make sure it's the same scene." He offered, hoping to assuage Nick's bad mood.

"It's okay." Nick sighed as he headed back to the evidence room to double check the photos by hand.

When he did, he stared at them in shock. The pictures Catherine took did not match the ones that Warrick had taken. It looked like someone had moved some key evidence, making it difficult, if not impossible to identify. He laid his head down in defeat.

"Nick?" Grissom questioned as he and Catherine returned to the evidence room with three mugs of coffee.

"Something happened to the crime scene. Catherine's pictures don't match with the ones that Warrick had taken half an hour earlier." Nick reluctantly reported. Grissom confirmed Nick's worst fears when he saw the pictures. The three headed to the break room to brainstorm while waiting for Warrick and Sara.

"What's going on?" Warrick asked seriously as he and Sara entered into the strangely quiet break room. The two had finished processing his grandmother's house, and returned to the lab frustrated with little evidence to show for their efforts.

"Someone contaminated our crime scene." Nick said, barely controlling his anger.

"What?" Warrick shouted in disbelief. "Who?" Nick rubbed his hands over his face. "I don't know." He answered wearily.

"Could this case get any stranger?" Sara commented as her mind raced to make sense of the evidence. Or lack thereof.

"Or any worse?" Catherine added cynically. The room was silent as the five minds churned to come up with some sort of valid explanation. To simply grab a hold of something that could tie the three loose ends together.

"There goes the random theory." Warrick said with a sigh. "Shit." Nick swore as the case closed in on them without any good leads. None of Greg's tests of the tires had returned any hard evidence either.

"I'm sorry Warrick. How's your grandmother?" Grissom apologized, turning his attention away from the frustration of the Freeman scene.

"She's fine. She wasn't home when the suspect entered." He informed the rest of the team. "Any leads?" Catherine queried hopefully, praying for some sort of breakthrough.

"No. It didn't look like anything was missing or even touched." He reported in bewilderment. "The only thing we found was part of the brick that went through the window. We sent it down to trace."

"I think maybe they did it simply to get you away from the crime scene." Sara suggested bleakly.

"So this is all related?" Grissom stated in disbelief. If that were the case, then Warrick was right, it wasn't random. IT was intentional.

"Whoever is doing this, is playing with us. They know us and our territory." Sara decided, disgusted and infuriated.

"Well sooner or later, this person is going to slip up. And when he does we'll be right there to take him down." Nick promised, trying to break up the gloom.

"Nobody takes on the number 1 crime lab in the country and gets away with it." Grissom agreed irritably.

Catherine sighed. "I'll get Greg to make a special pot of coffee. I think it's going to be a long night." She announced. Grissom went to his office and Sara ran back to the lab, leaving Nick and Warrick to converse about the case.

"Three down, two to go." Nick declared. "I wonder what this guy's motive is." He asked rhetorically. "It doesn't make any sense."

"At least we know now who to protect." Warrick offered solemnly, worried about Sara and Grissom.

"We think we know." Nick corrected his friend. "There's no way to know what his next move is or what he's capable of." He said with a shudder. He had experienced first hand being in the line of danger; it was part of their job. But they were usually the hunters, and it surprised him how scary it was to think that they were now the hunted. "The most frustrating part of it all is the evidence. Or the lack of It." He admitted slowly.

"It will come together in time Nick." Warrick gently encouraged him. "How can you be so freaking optimistic?" he yelled in response.

"If we don't believe that, then we're sunk before we even begin. We have to hope. Something will turn up, it always does." He said.

"Okay Grissom." Nick said mockingly, rolling his eyes.

"This case has really got you down." Warrick observed, taking in the exhausted appearance of his co-worker. "Aren't you?" Nick retorted. "Of course it's upsetting, I'm just trying to keep it together for the sake of the team, especially Sara." He said, without knowing what he had admitted to.

Finally a smile broke out on the Texan's face. His friend had revealed more then he had obviously intended. IF the situation wasn't so dire, he would have pursued the new revelation, but instead decided to let it pass. For the time being. But he didn't understand his overstated concern. "Why Sara? She seems fine to me." Nick argued.

Warrick almost laughed. 'Fine?' he thought to himself. She's been distracted and more quiet than usual, not to mention the dark circles under her eyes that gave her away. She was far too professional, to let it interfere with her work, but during the lulls of the job, he could see that it was getting to her. But he supposed that he was more sensitive to her moods, they were more alike than anyone on the team realized. Their similarities drew them close together even when they were so determined to not like each other. The similarities led to conversations, conversations led to respect, and respect led to a deep friendship, which led to...who knows what the future holds?

"What about Grissom?" he challenged the other, effectively changing subjects without answering the original question.

"Well I know he can take care of himself, we just have to make sure he doesn't do something stupid, like go it alone or something." Nick replied. Their conversation ended as the other three returned to the room.

"Okay. Listen up. Here's our plan of action." Grissom directed. "Nick and Catherine, you study the knife holes and come up with a list of knives that could have done the damage. Sara and Warrick, you both go back to Freeman and process the new crime scene. Brass is there securing the place now."

A few hours later...

"The knife pattern has been identified as part of the Cutco collection." Catherine reported to Grissom during check in.

"And that means?" he inquired perplexed as he leaned back into his chair.

"Cutco knives are sold by individual salespeople door to door." She explained further, looking to clarify the facts for Grissom.

"Over 3,000 were sold this month alone in Clark County." Nick offered, jumping into the conversation. "You know what to do." Their supervisor informed them with a raised eyebrow. Nick sighed; it would take hours if not days to sort through the 3,000 clients. Warrick and Sara returned to see a deflated Nick and Catherine making their way back to the lab.

"Did you find anything?" Grissom asked the other pair, hoping their news would be a little more uplifting.

"Shoe prints size ten male, and rake markings." Warrick admitted, confirming that the scene had been compromised.

"We'll have to comb the neighborhood tomorrow for rakes." Sara stated. "For now, run the shoe prints through the computer to find a match." Grissom ordered as the clock struck two am. Warrick and Sara ran off to the lab. They could only hope they could stop this person before he struck again. And in order to do that, the evidence would have to start talking.

But he was not one to be deterred. One of his greatest assets was his tenacity and commitment to a case, to his job. He was so devoted in fact; it made him naturally suspicious of anyone or anything. Not to mention judgmental of anyone else who tried to have a life outside of work. This was one task he was determined to see through.

'That was close.' The man whispered relieved as he closed the door to his house behind him. He hadn't planned on the others arriving so soon. He could only hope he had done enough damage to affect the investigation. It was a crucial part in setting up the next part of his plan. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and camped out in front of the television.

'I'm going to have to move a little quicker to ensure that they don't catch me.' He reminded himself. Looking over his plans his anxiety was lessened when he realized he had only two more tasks to complete. And the last two he would enjoy immensely. That exultant thought followed him into unconsciousness as he passed out on his couch.

The grave shift worked steadfastly through the shift. Grissom refused to work his crew ragged though, and sent them all home promptly at 8am.

"Catherine, I'd feel better if you stayed somewhere else tonight, just to be safe." Grissom warned, the pressure of the case weighing him down with worry. Through the years the team had faced many different cases, though none of them had specifically targeted them before. He felt responsible for them, being the supervisor and all. And through the years that they had worked together, they had become like a family. He didn't want to dwell on what it would be like if anything happened to any one of them.

"I don't know Griss, I have the sitter there and then I'd have to wake up Lindsey..." She protested. Nick bailed her out before Grissom could comment. He had seen Warrick take off after Sara and knew he didn't have to worry about her. "How about I stay with you?" He offered and both Catherine and Grissom agreed to that arrangement. She was relieved, though she was a bit worried about this character, she really didn't like to upset her schedule. Plus she didn't want to worry her daughter, who was getting to the age of understanding more and more of what Mommy did every time she went to work. She had known the risks when she accepted the job, but this case was causing her to doubt her passion for her career.

"Sara, you're staying with me tonight." Warrick commanded her, standing in front of her driver's side door, blocking her escape. His tone, which was unusually somber, offered no room for argument.

She wished she could lie and say that she wasn't worried. But she couldn't. Not to him. They had taken a friendship that had once been fragile and almost irreparable and had formed a deeper, solid friendship. Honest communication was how they had worked out through their previous problems, and they had vowed to be just as honest in the future. Besides, she wasn't willing to forgo the relationship they had constructed for the sake of her own foolish pride. And maybe, just maybe she would get a good night's rest for the first time in a few days. This was the first time she had ever been involved in a case like this, as it was for all of them, but it shook her to the core. Not that she would admit it. But with him, she didn't have to. He just knew and she wondered how they had close after such a tumultuous beginning.

He waited for an argument, a protest, anything. But nothing came. She simply put her keys back into her purse and followed him wordlessly back to his car. He could tell she wasn't as calm as the rest of the team thought, but he didn't call her on it. If he noticed her anxiety, he didn't comment on it. It was enough that she had listened to him and it proved her trust in him, and in their friendship.


	4. Drip, Drip, Drip

Drip, Drip, Drip

Predictably the whole night shift arrives hours early for shift, desperate for a break in the case. They were spread throughout the lab, avoiding the dreaded day shift like the plague. Catherine and Grissom were checking out miles of surveillance tape with Archie, seeing if the outdoor cameras caught the perp on tape slashing (more like stabbing) Catherine's tires. Warrick and Nick were comparing photos from before the contamination of the scene to after. Sara was the only one working alone, studying fragments of brick from Warrick's grandmother's house.

He's got his eye on his next victim. It was too bad really that it had to be this way, her own stubbornness would be her downfall. Nobody rejected him and got away with it. But he didn't really blame her, he believed that her friends filled her head with lies about him. If anyone on the night shift knew that they would have laughed in his face. Sara Sidle was not one to be easily influenced or manipulated or even intimidated. Many times she challenged her co-workers to the point of exasperation.

He watches her with the ease of one who makes his living by observing people. He knows that she doesn't eat meat, likes rock and roll, and that she's a workaholic. But those things don't mean much to him. He's more interested in how she interacts with others. He notices the friendships she has with Warrick and Nick. How they challenge each other on the job and support one another. He sees the close bond she shares with Catherine, being the only two women in a male driven profession. But what bothers him most is her relationship with him. He hears the gossip and realizes that once again he'll come in second. He doesn't realize that 90% of the gossip is untrue. He doesn't understand that he never had a chance. She'll never notice him. But his next step will cause her to notice as well as everyone else.

"Later Greg." Sara called to the young lab tech as she exited the room. He didn't notice her departure as he was so wrapped up in his work, hoping to have some results for Grissom. The clock read 9:30pm, which meant she had half an hour to shower before shift started.

Sara threw off her shirt and tossed it in the direction of her locker in disgust. She had spent the last few hours going over the sparse evidence they had collected from Warrick's grandmother's house. If the same guy was involved in all three incidents, she wanted to prove it and nail him. So far the evidence wasn't backing them up. Plus now she had her regular shift to look forward to. She usually loved her work, even to the point of obsession; but this case was more mentally and emotionally draining then she could ever have imagined.

She headed towards the showers to turn on the water. The pipes in the locker room took forever to heat up and she wasn't in the mood for a cold one. However, she never made it to the shower. Before she even heard anything, a hand clamped over her mouth and a sharp object stabbed into her neck. She immediately went limp in her captor's arms. He dragged her lifeless body to the support pole in the center of the room and tied her tight, in case she did wake up from the mild sedative he had injected her with.

The picture of a half-naked and submissive Sara Sidle was a sight to behold. He sat in the corner staring at the beauty while she stirred from her sudden, yet brief slumber. He watched her struggle to wake up from unconsciousness. Her beautiful brown eyes met his dark ones with confusion, before filling with terror.

"Ecklie." She whispered as the truth of their case was revealed and fear of her current situation threatened to overwhelm her. She wanted to vomit with the way he was looking at her, staring at her partially clothed body. The effects of the sedative had not fully worn off, she realized as she found herself fading in and out of consciousness.

When she awoke again, it was to feel a slight prick in her stomach followed by a decisive cut. He sliced her skin leaving a message that she couldn't read. He gently caressed her face before sneaking away. Before her eyes opened, she could hear the gentle, constant Drip, Drip, Drip of her own blood falling to the floor as she went unmoving once more.

When she awoke again a few seconds later, Sara tried to call for help, but she went still at the sight of her own blood dripping down, landing in puddles at her feet. She again was sent back into unconsciousness, this time it had nothing to do with the sedative, only the pain as the blood continued to run.

Twenty minutes later the others were gathered in the break room, going over their present case. "Nick, we'll find out who trashed your crime scene." Grissom promised more determined than ever.

"And who slashed Catherine's tires." Warrick added in frustration.

The clock struck ten o'clock reminding them it was time for shift. "Hopefully the cases will be a welcome distraction." Catherine wished fervently. The whole team had been on edge for 2 days now, with no end in sight. She knew with sickening certainty that it wouldn't stop until every team member had been targeted.

"What I don't understand, is if he does have a vendetta against us, why his attacks are relatively minor?" Catherine commented, voicing her doubts aloud. "Granted it's freaky and strange, but not life-threatening." She added before the men could protest.

"Where's Sara?" Nick questioned when he realized his best friend was missing.

"I'll page her." Grissom announced. They all chuckled when they heard her pager ring from the lab. Sara was famous for her intense work ethic. This wouldn't be the first time she was late for assignments because of a case. "I'll get her." Nick volunteered.

"Where's Sara?" Nick echoed his earlier words when he didn't spot the brunette in the lab right away.

"Don't know." Replied Greg. He didn't look up from his microscope. "She left a while ago, I guess. I thought she went to get something to eat." He offered as a guess.

Nick returned to the break room confused. He shouldn't be worried, but with all the other weird things going on lately, he was. "She wasn't there." He announced to the group.

"Well obviously she's somewhere in the building." Catherine declared and the four set out to look for her. "she couldn't have gone far." She reasoned.

"Wouldn't Sara laugh if she could see us now?" Warrick commented as they began their search.. "She's two minutes late and we've got a search party looking for her."

"Shh." Catherine directed suddenly. "Do you hear that?" she asked her male teammates. Drip, Drip, Drip was all they heard.

"A leaky pipe?" Grissom guessed as they approached the locker room.

"The lights are off. That's odd." Nick commented as he pushed the door open and fumbled for the lights.

As the lights came up, the foursome was horrified at the sight that greeted them. Sara was unmoving and tied to the pole. "Sara!" Catherine screamed, it was the only thing she could do as they stood in shock. Her voice startled Sara and her eyes flew open as she was relieved to have been found. Nick started to come close to her but she shook her head no, ignoring the pain, to discourage them from getting closer. She couldn't get the words out.

"A bomb?" Grissom guessed fearfully. "What is it?" Warrick asked, feeling nauseous at the sight of her, and wanting to free her as soon as possible.

"A crime scene." Sara managed to whisper. "I want to nail the bastard who did this." She exclaimed as the tears began to fall freely. She relaxed knowing her friends were there, and that she would soon be free. Her physical ordeal was over, but the emotional one was just beginning.

"She's right. We need to process the scene carefully. As soon as you get the pictures, Catherine untie her." He directed. "Nick you take the perimeter of the locker room, Warrick you'll do the interview." He addressed his team, assigning the tasks. He forced himself to remain in control, despite the fact that this was Sara. "Are you okay?" he finally got around to asking her.

"So much for relatively minor incidents." Catherine murmured to herself. This was a tell tale sign that their suspect was completely over the edge. With one strange twist, he had escalated their case, instilling a real sense of fear in all of them.

"You're bleeding." Nick stated the obvious, struggling to ignore his friend as he went about doing his job.

"She's going into shock." Catherine noted, seeing the unreadable look on her face. She moved closer to get better pictures of the wounds. She located the source of the dripping they had heard that had sent them to the locker room, when they would have had no reason to look for her there.

Blood continued to fall off her stomach, puddling unto the floor. "Grissom, read this." She called out to their supervisor. His stomach dropped as he read the message left behind. "G-you're next." He was sickened when he realized that the suspect had gone through his whole team just to get to him.

"Whoever attacked Sara, also was involved in the other events." Grissom announced, more than a little pissed off.

"Why the sudden escalation?" Grissom pointed out the illogical motive behind Sara's attack.

Catherine soaked a towel in warm water and brought it over to wash the blood off of Sara. "Don't." Sara pleaded with her friend. "DNA." She explained further. Catherine was shocked, apparently Sara was still lucid enough to direct them all in the investigation. She was doing a better job than the rest of them.

"Did you see your attacker Sara?" Warrick asked surprised. He had assumed that she hadn't. The rest of the team turned at his question and waited for her response.

"Ecklie." She replied quietly. Now Warrick was convinced he was going to be sick. As sick as Warrick was feeling, Nick was just as pissed. He had seen the way Ecklie had stared at Sara in the past, and wondered what had pushed him over the edge. Immense guilt filled him as he wondered if there had been anything he could have done to prevent this.

"He didn't wear gloves." She told Catherine, who tested for fingerprints. Finally they were able to get some evidence. Warrick untied her and helped her into a nearby chair until they could remove her from the crime scene.

"hey Warrick, can you get Sara a button down shirt?" Catherine whispered to the younger man discretely. He nodded and grabbed a light green long sleeve shirt out of his locker, slipping it on the slender frame of the brunette CSI who clutched it across her chest modestly before Catherine helped her button it up.

"Why would he do that?" Grissom wondered aloud. "I thought he was smarter than that." He mused to himself.

"Smarter, but arrogant." Sara answered as she shivered, remembering the look on his face. She was sitting on the bench, seemingly unaware of the conversations going around her.

"He was so freaking certain we'd contaminate the scene because of Sara." Nick proclaimed. "Just like the crime scene." He added repulsed.

"But it was because of Sara that we didn't." Warrick added fiercely, proud of her for her courage, and relieved that she seemed to be as okay as one could be after such an attack.

"You're done here Sar. Warrick, take her out." Grissom instructed the pair as he continued to search for evidence. Warrick gently guided her out by her elbow, careful not to hold onto her too hard, though he desperately wanted to keep her close to assure himself that she was all right.

"Coffee?" He offered her as they sat down in the break room. She answered in the negative and he opened a blank notebook to record her answers.

"Why were you in the locker room?" He began gently, hoping she was stable enough to answer his questions.

Sara was up for the challenge, knowing from experience, that testimony right after an attack is the strongest form of evidence for the prosecution. "I wanted to take a shower. I left Greg in the lab at about 9:30pm." She replied softly.

'thirty minutes.' Warrick swore under his breath as he contemplated his next question. He couldn't believe that he had been in and out and done in such a short amount of time.

"What happened next?" He probed sensitively, ignoring his desire for the facts, to get Sara through this ordeal.

"I took off my shirt and went to turn on the shower to warm up the pipes when I felt someone grab me and then everything went black." She confessed shakingly to her co-worker. She was still feeling the effects of the sedative and tried to shake it off.

Something didn't add up to him. Surely Sara would have fought back was his first doubt. Then she mentioned that everything went black. "Show me your hands." He instructed her. She immediately held them out and turned them over. 'No defensive wounds.' He thought as he tried to reconstruct exactly what happened. He stared at her hoping to get answers when he noticed a raised bump on her neck. It looked like a puncture wound.

'What the?' Warrick wondered as he stared at the wound. He made a note in the notebook to check for some sort of needle. It would explain the lack of defensive wounds on her. She never had a chance as Ecklie had sneaked up on her. The new facts revolted him so strongly he wished he could kill him with his bare hands. Knowing his own temper, and his feelings for Sara, he couldn't help but wish that he had a chance to do so.

"Check this out." Nick called out in disgust, drawing Catherine and Grissom to his side.

"Semen?" Catherine said in disbelief. "Oh God." She shuddered to think what the evidence meant. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.

"Let Warrick know. See what Sara says." Grissom instructed Nick. The Texan hurried back to the break room and tried to discretely summon Warrick out of the room. But he wouldn't leave her side, and she wouldn't let him.

"What is it?" She whispered fearfully. Nick kneeled down next to her as Warrick held her hand, disturbed at what news Nick could be bringing. "We found seminal fluid in the locker room Sar." He began slowly. He was about to repeat his statement when it hit her. "oh." She muttered quietly. "Oh." She said again louder as her face went pale and she broke away from the two men to throw up in the garbage can. Warrick felt the same way as he followed closely behind her to comfort her. She had been so strong so far but the implication of rape seriously rattled the usually composed Sara.

"Did he do anything to you?" Nick questioned her tenderly, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"I don't know." She admitted softly, closing her eyes to keep from throwing up again. Warrick exchanged worried glances with Nick. The two men were planning their next move. Warrick quickly decided, "I'm taking her to the hospital." Nick agreed and went to tell Grissom.

"Well?" Grissom grilled Nick as soon as he stepped into the locker room. His harsh demeanor disappeared when he noticed Nick's anxiety-ridden state. "What is it?" he asked the young CSI more gently this time.

"She doesn't know." He informed them much to Catherine and Grissom's chagrin. "Warrick's taking her to the hospital right now." He also reported as he slowly went back to his part in the investigation.

"Brass is on the way." Catherine updated the two men as she hung up her phone.

"Warrick said to be on the look out for a needle. There weren't any signs of struggle on Sara's part, plus a puncture wound in her neck which would suggest he snuck up on her." Nick declared before the three went silent, processing the evidence as quickly as possible. Ecklie had quickly escalated the situation and they intended to stop it before it went any further.

Warrick took Sara to the hospital. He escorted her right into the emergency room where her physician Dr. Binotto was waiting.

"Don't go." She pleaded with him in a panicked whisper. Warrick sat down next to her as the nurse drew the curtains in. Sara could understand in that moment why most victims of sexual assault never went to the authorities. They wanted to forget it ever happened. But she couldn't let Ecklie get away with what he did to her or her teammates. She had never experienced fear quite like this before. She had not been in control, and it terrified her to no end that there were moments she could not remember.

As the doctor checked her for evidence of a sexual assault, she squeezed his hand until he lost feeling. 'Damn she's strong' was on his lips before he noticed the terrified look in her eyes. Her brown eyes popped out against her pale skin. He squeezed her hand back in return to try to reassure her. He wished desperately he could take away her pain.

The doctor finished the check up and wheeled Sara upstairs for some ex-rays. Warrick waited for the results before calling Grissom. The nurse bandaged her up while the doctor reported to Warrick. "The results came back negative." Warrick was relieved, and let out the breath he didn't even know he had been holding. "Thank you Doctor." He replied simply and gratefully.

"Doesn't mean the recovery will be any easier though." Dr. Binotto reminded him gently. "You can take her home as soon as she gets back."

"Grissom." The supervisor answered tensely. "Hey boss, it's Warrick."

"How is she?" He asked softly, concerned about his young CSI. He felt no small amount of guilt for bringing her to this lab in the first place.

"The results were negative on the rape kit. She has a few bruised ribs though. I'm taking her home in a little while." He informed him. "She's getting bandaged right now."

"Alright. The rest of us will be headed to Ecklie's house at 9am with Brass if you guys want to come. Tell Sara she doesn't have to though." Grissom offered, but not believing that she would actually stay away.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Warrick said hanging up just as Sara was wheeled out to him. She signed her release papers and he pushed her to the curb.

"I'll be right back Sar." He said softly. He tried to move away but she grabbed his arm urgently. "Don't leave me." She said in her most vulnerable voice. "How about I carry you?" He compromised. She nodded and he easily lifted her into his arms and quickly walked the short distance to his car. He buckled her in gently and drove them both to his house.


	5. A familiar Scent

A familiar Scent

"I'll take the car, Catherine you take the garbage. Nick, check the kitchen for knives." Grissom instructed his team. "Warrick-you get the living room and Sara you have the bedroom." He kept her as close to Warrick as possible while allowing her some semblance of autonomy. Her small smile showed her appreciation.

Nick began searching for Ecklie's knife drawer. He was pleased when he discovered one was missing. He checked the remaining pieces against the Cut co inventory he had. Not an easy task considering the different models and types of knives the company made. But all he needed was one. A medium size carving knife with a platinum base, model # 22-6b.

Warrick was certain his assignment was more of a person than an actual room. Not that he was displeased. For once he didn't complain about a cake assignment, though most wouldn't agree that watching Sara was a cake assignment. Until he found a photo album that highlighted Ecklie's hatred of Grissom. He turned through the pages of pictures and newspaper clippings he had collected through the years. He was fascinated to see the vast amounts of evidence. 'Motive.' He thought to himself. Sara had been right, he was arrogant. So arrogant he hadn't bothered to clean out his house of all the evidence that could tie him to all the attacks.

Sara had passed the two men and headed towards the bedroom. She was as relaxed as possible not thinking she would find anything useful in the bedroom. She appreciated Grissom's concern and was hoping that the monotony of fieldwork would ease her mind.

Upon first glance nothing seemed out of order. It was a typical, sterile male room. Which was why the scent of vanilla startled her. It was her favorite scent, well until now. Ecklie wasn't one to have female visitors so it seemed so strangely out of place, drawing her deeper into the room. She scanned for the candles and found some scattered on top of his dresser. She made her way across the room as her gaze traveled upwards she gasped and dropped her flashlight.

The noise startled Warrick from his reading. "Sara?" Warrick inquired to see if she was okay.

She couldn't move, couldn't speak at the sight in front of her. A myriad of pictures taped to his wall of her. She noticed some from work, which wasn't too unusual, until she noticed that he had cut other people from the pictures, and some were ones that she knew belonged to Catherine or Nick, the sentimentalists of the team. Then she spotted other ones that made her shrink back in horror. 'He's been outside my house.' She thought frantically, desperately trying to hold unto her composure. Her eyes quickly found more intimate pictures of her getting dressed inside the locker room or inside her bedroom. The pictures were too much as she was overwhelmed by the events of the last day. The emotions came pouring down and she was powerless to stop them.

It had only been a few seconds since he called for her. Suddenly the sounds of sobbing caught his attention as he jumped up. "SARA!" He yelled urgently as he sped towards the bedroom. Nick heard Warrick's cry and raced out to retrieve Grissom.

He found her shaking and sobbing transfixed in front of the dresser. He saw the pictures briefly, forcing himself to keep himself in control for her sake. "Come on." He said as he firmly but gently grabbed her arms and pushed her out of the room. That seemed to break her trance as she tore out of the house where she collapsed on the lawn. The sickening images raced through her head and she vomited. Warrick, like always, was at her side instantly, picked her up and declared, "I'm taking her home." Without asking anyone's permission. The other three watched in worried confusion at her reaction. Warrick buckled her in and went to explain to his puzzled coworkers.

"What's going on Warrick?" Grissom demanded as soon as he returned from his car. Warrick sighed. "He's got a intimate shrine of Sara in his bedroom not to mention a album dedicated to Grissom in the living room." He announced somberly.

"Oh my god." Catherine exclaimed softly. Nick couldn't get any more disgusted. He had thought Ecklie to be a nut job but this was something else entirely. Even a hardened veteran like Grissom couldn't hide his shock at the discoveries.

"What do we do now?" Nick questioned to no one in particular. "The first thing is that the we doesn't include Grissom." Brass decided. Gil started to protest but was interrupted by Nick. "It's personal Gris." He explained patiently as to why Grissom couldn't stay on the case.

"Besides it's for your own good. You're the next target, keep yourself safe." Catherine warned him.

The normally unflappable supervisor suddenly got angry. "What! I'm just supposed to hide while this guy attacks members of my team!" He yelled incredulously. "Knowing he used all of you just to get to me makes me sick. I'm not hiding." He repeated firmly.

"Fine." Brass relented. "Just stay away from the case." He pleaded with his friend.

"Do it for Sara." Warrick reminded him. "We have all the evidence we need to put him away inside, and if it's compromised, he gets away with everything. We need to put him away for a long time." Grissom agreed and left the case in his team's capable hands.

"Go." Catherine commanded Warrick forcefully after Grissom had left. "Take her home." She said more gently this time. She could see his feelings written all over his face. She didn't know how Sara felt but hoped it would work out between the two of them. Despite their protests to the contrary, they needed each other.

She was still seated where he left her, seemingly in a trance as she barely even flinched when he closed his car door. For once in his life, Warrick Brown had no idea of what to do.

Sure he had tried to comfort victims before, it was part of his job. But this time was different. It was one of his co-workers. It was Sara. And he knew that they would be just words to Sara. He couldn't make her any promises, and that frightened him more than anything.


End file.
